MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke Scott McInnis is commending the decision announced Monday, June 6 by B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne to backtrack a decision made the previous Friday to cut funding to the B.C. Family Residence Program, which financially supports families with sick children who have to travel to and stay in hotels in Vancouver for hospital visits.
McInnis celebrated the outpouring of public opposition to the decision and said he feels a "muted happiness" that the government listened to these concerns and reversed their decision.
"I fully believe that the government works for the people and I hope this is an example that moving forward if there’s policy or legislation or regulation that’s put in place, that people understand that their voice truly matters," McInnis said. "People get a little dissuaded or jaded when it comes to even local or provincial politics that what they say doesn’t matter, or maybe they don’t vote because they think it doesn’t count, but this is just a really good example of ‘yes it does matter.’
"If you believe in something being right or wrong, you’re probably not the only one. So the ability to speak up and have people’s voices heard on this, I’m tremendously optimistic about the democratic process and how that unfolded here."
McInnis added he was part of the process of setting up broad opposition in the riding in the form of petitions against the original plan, which would have cut support for family accomodation from 30 nights/medical appointments to 15 nights per calendar year, but the decision to revert happened very quickly.
McInnis said he heard from residents who used the service for two years while their child had a heart condition, or a premature baby. He also mentioned a local Kimberley family who utilized this program as their teenaged son went through chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.
"It was just story, after story, after story of people directly, or their family member, or their neighbour, or something that they just didn’t know what they would do moving forward if they weren’t provided this financial support to be able to be by the child’s side in the Lower Mainland.
"The outcry was hard to ignore and it was very touching and I was very personally emotionally invested in this, because as a parent and knowing some of these children and the families personally, I’m just glad that the government realized that they overstepped on this."
He added the last thing families who have a sick child should have to deal with is financial stress, and he couldn't understand the initial decision to cut this program that helps to alleviate that stress.
"For the life of me I really couldn’t understand ... why the government would even consider doing this when there were so many other areas potentially to look at for shifts in funding, or cutbacks. To me it was just like this would be one of the last things that you would consider, because it directly impacts families in the most personal way."
He added he feels that, if anything, the program should be expanded, especially for people who live in rural communities like Kimberley.
He also said the issue highlighted the need for increased access to healthcare in communities like Kimberley or Cranbrook, where he said the East Kootenay Regional Hospital is currently operating at around 110 per cent capacity.
One of the ways he's been approaching that is working with partners including Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick and Kootenay East Regional Hospital Board president David Wilks on securing funding to reopen and renovate the Kimberley Health Centre.
This, McInnis said, would help to take some pressure of the East Kootenay Regional Hospital, if people could come to the Kimberley Health Centre for minor needs like X-Rays and casting.
McInnis has also been continually pressuring Minister Osborne to get the Provincial Rural Retention Incentives (PRRI) brought in to Kimberley and Cranbrook, to make attracting and retaining health-care workers more viable.
He also highlighted Angel Flight, a volunteer-run charity based out of Cranbrook that flies patients to appointments in Kelowna and Vancouver.
"This is not a luxury service," he said. "This is a necessity to get people quickly and easily. Especially seniors, they can’t drive to Kelowna or Vancouver in the middle of the wintertime. This should be something that the government prioritizes, not provides a little bit of change every year just to keep it operational."
He said that he feels people who live in B.C. acknowledge there's a trade-off: getting to live in a beautiful small community, but having less expedient access to healthcare.
"But at the same time, there is an expectation for a level of care which is equitable, which does provide access for critical care for people who need those services," he said. "The expectation should be that when you’re in an emergency and you need something, it’s there for you. This is British Columbia."
